Amador Stage Lines, Inc. v. The United States of America and Interstate Commerce Commission, and Quality Coach Lines, Inc., Intervening

Amador Stage Lines, Inc. has petitioned for review of a decision of the Interstate Commerce Commission approving a certificate of public convenience and necessity for Quality Coach Lines, Inc. to operate as a carrier of passengers within the United States. We have concluded that the evidence introduced by Quality to show a public need for such service was insufficient to support the decision. We have further concluded that the record raises questions that should have been explicitly resolved by the Commission but on which the Commission decision is silent.

Quality is a Nevada corporation formed in 1980 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Frontier Enterprises, Inc., a licensed passenger broker doing business amounting to over $5,000,000 annually. Quality applied to the Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to permit it to transport passengers as part of tours arranged by licensed passenger brokers. In support of its application, Quality submitted a statement by Frontier in which Frontier explained that it sought to develop luxury tour packages not heretofore available which would cater to customers more affluent than the usual bus passenger. These tour…